Another ferry crossing – Giardinelli, Sardinia, Italy

After a quiet night at Palau marina and a few drinks amongst the locals who were getting in the Xmas spirit with a bit of fizz. A lovely atmosphere, young and old out enjoying themselves.

This morning Kev took the girls out early and the same cafe was busy already at 06:30. The ferry to La Maddalena island runs every 30 minutes all through the day and night and it seems to mean Palau is pretty busy as a result. We were still so full from lunch yesterday that despite no dinner last night all we fancied was a coffee and snack this morning so we decided to go get our ferry tickets and join in.

I went to the ferry terminal to get the tickets, €61.40 for 2 adults and motorhome on an open return. It appeared to be €110 online and you had to book a specific service, so online is not always best it seems. Glad we did not pre-book. Kevin went to suss out the boarding system, which seems to be line up in lines on the boarding area then as soon as the ferry docks all charge at once, the man collecting tickets dodging between cars to collect.

We went to get a coffee and croissant, getting one of the last tables in the café. Everyone was chatting to each other and thanks to the eternal icebreaker of having dogs, also to us, well after they said hello to the dogs anyway 😁. Apparently this north-east corner of Sardinia is where all the rich and famous hang-out. The Aga Khan bought some land and developed a super yacht marina at Porto Cervo just along the coast, Sting and Harrison Ford apparently have villas there. Well we spoke to the couple who look after the house of an English actress we had not heard of that used to dance with Fred Astaire and Kev saw a guy in the café that used to be in Hornblower, so we are definitely getting into the celeb spotting 😂

We headed round to the ferry and in the absence of directions joined a queue at random. The ferry arrived and cars started rolling off even as they were securing the lines. A big HGV rolled off, thankfully confirming we would fit, skilfully and narrowly missing the car parked opposite on the ramp on the No-stopping-for-any-reason-you-will-be-towed-section. One of the fluorescent dressed crew went over to talk to said car, this seemed to result in him getting to board first. Got to love Sardinians / Italians. They really do not give a hoot. The rugby scrum of four lanes of cars then converged onto the ferry at once and somehow we all managed to board and depart on time.

A quick 20 minute crossing and we had completed our third ferry journey of the trip and reached the lovely buzzing island of La Madellena. A harbour full of some pretty big yachts, people and cars everywhere. After seeing so many deserted spots it was a leap of faith La Madellena would not be, but it looks like we have come to a good place for some Christmas fun.

However, before we park up for the week tomorrow for our Christmas Holidays (ridiculous to say I know but that is how we are both feeling!), tonight, one last wild camp. So we have made our way over the causeway to Isla Giardinelli, an island off an island, off another island 😂. We engaged 4×4 to negotiate another rather rough track, adding a few more character scrapes to the paintwork as we squeezed between the bushes. Sure it will all t-cut out! 😂 No point not using these vehicles!

We are now parked up on our own with the sea all round us. Myself, Kev and Lola-Rock-Hopper went off to climb the rocks to suss out the views. Lizzy meanwhile opted for a post-breakfast snooze in the van, as rock climbing is not much fun when you can’t see where you are going. So we are parked up for the night now. As per everywhere in Sardinia, we have a full 4G signal, so catching up on a few Christmas messages with family and friends and a bit of local exploring, wildness and peace and quiet.